Monthly Archives: January 2014

End of the Deck Bathroom

Today we accomplished a big step that we had begun over a month ago: remove the bathroom from the outdoor deck. This was a little tougher than the first part because Britton did the rest all by himself!

As it was coming down (over a month ago) it looked like this:

IMG_4686

They removed the majority of the structure that day (roof, walls, doorway, window, tub, toilet, sink), but left the floor, support beams, and base structure. So over the last few days Britton has been popping out floor boards and planning how to take down the rest of the huge beams.

Popping Boards
Popping boards

Britton head IMG_5063

Today he finished with the floor and was to the point of actually taking down the final main support posts.

Nearly downAlmost there!

That was easier said than done because these support beams were huge and covered in barbed wire! But finally he managed to release them and now the whole thing is down!

Cleared view
By the evening it was gone!
We still have to process all the wood and separate the good pieces from the bad, take out the nails and get ready for its new life. Every end is a new beginning as they say and the timing for the end of this coop is not by chance. Our new little chicks will be arriving next week and the bathroom will soon transform into the chicken coop (we’ve been jokingly referring to it as the Poop Coop in reference to its past as a bathroom -haha). Thanks to my mom’s advice we are also going to use the bathtub as the baby chick home until they are big enough to go outside on their own. We’ve also ordered baby turkey chicks, but they won’t arrive until April so we have some time yet for them.

What do you think of this post?
  • WOW (2)
  • Awesome (3)
  • Interesting (0)
  • Useful (0)
  • Bummer (0)
  • Whoa (0)

Fun with Guests and Party at the Grocery Store!

We have been very busy these last few days. Having guests to show around is always a lot of fun because you get to show off the highlights of your town and area. In addition to showing them around our property and the waterfalls in San Sebastian we also went out to eat at some of our favorite locales: Tamboo for lunch overlooking Sandy beach, La Copa Llena for the most delicious food to celebrate Britton’s birthday, Villa Cofresi for a game of pool with “Piratas” or creamy rum drinks made inside a fresh coconut and The English Rose for breakfast in the “hills” overlooking the ocean.

Villa Cofresi
Sunset happy hour at Villa Cofresi

We swam in the marina, went to a fun party, checked out the lighthouse and watched the surfers in Domes Beach and sat outside admiring the stars in the middle of January after cooking chicken on an open flame. Overall we had a great time and it reminds us that we definitely live in a vacation spot. But we have been so busy that we haven’t had much time for much else like boring life things such as laundry and groceries.

So we went to our favorite little grocery store in Rincon, Edward’s, to pick up a few groceries on Saturday and were greeted with a huge “Customer Appreciation Party”. Not only do the grocery stores in Puerto Rico sell alcohol unlike in Colorado, but they know how to throw a party! There was a pig roast, rice and beans, green bananas in garlic sauce, ceviche, bacalitos, sausages and all-you-can-drink rum, beer, and wine along with a live salsa band! Apparently the party just doesn’t stop in Rincon!

Edwards Party

 

IMG_5052

 

Here’s a short video for your entertainment. At first it looks like you are at some sort of festival or something and then…voila you are in a grocery store. lol

What do you think of this post?
  • WOW (2)
  • Awesome (4)
  • Interesting (0)
  • Useful (0)
  • Bummer (0)
  • Whoa (0)

Gozalandia Waterfalls in San Sebastian Puerto Rico

Waterfall1

We were trying to think of a fun activity for my mom and Anthony while they were visiting us. We have visited the beaches and checked out the lighthouse area in Rincón with them, but there was something Britton and I had been wanting to check out for a while: the waterfalls of San Sebastian also known as Gozalandia (loosely: Enjoymentlandia).

At the waterfall
Lots of photo ops

It’s not too hard to find these waterfalls. If you can find San Sebastian, you can find it and everyone in the town knows where they are. Basically you just go from the Walgreens up to the bridge and hang a right and keep going up until you see the signs and parking for $5.

These are very beautiful waterfalls and it sort of makes you feel like you are in some kind of tropical movie like the Blue Lagoon -especially because one of the rock faces actually looks vaguely like a skull face. There are virtually no rules and you are free to do pretty much whatever stunts cliff diving or swimming into the underwater caves. One of the waterfalls even has a rope with which you can swing and jump and you can stand behind the water as it falls. It was a little chilly for us to do much swimming in the cool river/spring water, but we watched the crazy cliff divers and we climbed around a lot.

Steps

It is not an easy climb to either of the waterfalls and so you would need to be moderately fit to traverse the wet and slippery steps and be able to hang on to the rope knots on the way down or fit your foot into tree roots. A helpful and funny man can walk you through it step by step if you need. But all the trouble getting to them is well worth it. Unlike most government sanctioned nature areas, this private park felt pretty much like it probably did when the native Taino Indians lived on the island and probably played in these cascadas. It wasn’t until just recently that the stairs were even installed!

Other waterfall
The other lesser known waterfall has the rope and reminded me of the cenotes or sinkholes of the Yucatan in Mexico

I talked with one of the owners and he said it is a piece of property that has been in his family for many years and up until about 40 years ago it had been a 70 acre sugarcane plantation, but now it is just known for the waterfalls and natural beauty. He said that in the depth of summer on the weekends it can be crammed with as many as 150 full cars, so we enjoyed the relaxed and quiet vibe we had there on a January weekday with maybe 10 other people.

On the walk/hike to the secondary waterfall there are smaller dipping pools as well. I think I would like to go back and do some exploring under the water and do some jumping when the weather is a little warmer on a summer weekday. It was a stunning find and I would highly recommend it!

Cassie at the waterfall

2016 Update: Here is our second trip to Gozalandia. Some improvements have been made to the property.

What do you think of this post?
  • WOW (4)
  • Awesome (8)
  • Interesting (1)
  • Useful (0)
  • Bummer (0)
  • Whoa (0)

Our First Guests

We have had our first guests to the finca (farm) since moving here. They are my mom and her boyfriend Anthony!

Mom and Anthony

 

We really aren’t well-suited for guests yet since we only have one functional bathroom and the wooden house is not really ready to sleep in since it still feels sort of like a haunted house without electricity in some of the rooms.

Hammocks

 

But since the weather is always so nice sleeping outside is ever an option -even in the middle of January. Britton and Anthony literally hung out and slept in the hammocks while my mom and I took the cabana.

IMG_4981

Britton said he may not go back to bed-sleeping because he enjoyed the hammock so much! It has been so nice showing our first guests around and having them here, and hopefully on their next visit we will have more conventional sleeping quarters, but the hammocks are always available! 🙂

What do you think of this post?
  • WOW (3)
  • Awesome (6)
  • Interesting (0)
  • Useful (0)
  • Bummer (0)
  • Whoa (0)